Larp House Presents: Sign

illustration of two hands making ASL gesture for Friend

Nicaragua in the 1970s had no form of sign language. In 1977, something happened. Fifty deaf children from across the country were brought together to an experimental school in Managua. Without a shared language to express themselves, the children did the only thing they could — they created one. In Sign, we follow a small piece of their journey.

Sign is based on the true story of a language born in modern times from the hands of children.  In Sign, you’ll play as kids on their first day of school. Together you’ll make new language through play.

What

Sign, a live-action game about communication and being understood, for four to 35 players.

Designed by Kathryn Hymes & Hakan Seyalioglu

Organized by Katherine Shane

SIGN A Game About Being UnderstoodThis game of Sign will have simultaneous runs of one to five tables of four to seven players each, working together to create a new language. Play is entirely silent, without any spoken words or any use of currently existing sign languages. Instead players will use their creativity and their hands and bodies to communicate without words, build bonds of friendship, and create a new shared language.

This game will include a shared meal of traditional Nicaraguan food. (Meal will be vegetarian to ensure broad accessibility. Please indicate in the event sign up if you have any sensitivities or requirements.)

When

1 February 2020, 2 pm to 6 pm

Where

ECMN Community Room at 1101 West Broadway, Minneapolis (Google Maps)

Metro Transit routes 5, 14, 30, and 32 stop nearby. Parking is available.

Registration

If you’d like to play, please fill out the Sign registration form so we have an accurate head count for tables and food. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t delay!

The cost for the game plus meal is a self-determined fee of $5 to $25 (sliding scale) that will be collected at the door.

Hard copies of Sign will be available for sale.

Special! For a flat fee of $60, you may reserve a table for a group of 4 to 7 players. This includes food as well as a single hard copy of Sign by Thorny Games!

Continue reading “Larp House Presents: Sign”

Documentation for A Crow Funeral on Twin Cities PBS

Sure, many of us grow up role-playing alternate realities that revolve around fantasies of, say, being stranded in the woods or discovering a new alien planet. But admit it: There’s some hidden part of you that craves a role-playing outlet as a fully fledged grown-up. Turns out, you can do just that if you’re a

 

Larp House has been featured in this PBS documentary anthology! We are local TV famous! Check it out!

A Crows Funeral by Tim Hutchings
Facilitated by Tom Fendt
Seven players

Event announcement

Salon du Larp House: Glamourous Night – second playtest!

enchanted forest

Wizards, humans, magical animals, and faeries attend a mundane community’s summer solstice festival. Magic is in the air, voices are stilled, and dreams can come true at a cost. Tonight a journey between realms will grant attendees terrifying mystical power to pursue their desires. How far will you go to get what you want? When you are all-powerful, what is actually important to you?

What

Glamourous Night is a larp about faerie magic and wizards’ hubris for 15 to 25 players. It is an abstract and musical experience exploring the themes of mind control and healing from trauma. This event is a playtest for a larp designed by Jon Cole.

In Glamourous Night, players use two movement techniques to perform ensorcelling magic as their characters. Characters will experience joyful exploration and tempting darkness as they share, subjugate, and are subjugated.

When

Saturday January 11th, 2019, from 1 to 6 pm

Background

This is one of the final playtests of Glamourous Night, a nearly finished  larp that should deliver a fairly polished experience.  The organizer would like to gather your feedback after play for about 30 minutes.

Details on the larp

Setting and Situation

This larp is set in a medieval European world where magic and myth is reality. On the summer solstice a mundane community holds their annual celebration. This year, a mysterious covenant of wizards invited the community invited the villagers to celebrate in a mystically significant river valley. Elders say that the valley has strange auras that shift between magical and faerie. This solstice, human emotion and excitement have drawn faeries through the ancient mists, seeking playmates and playthings.

Play Style

Glamourous Night represents magical interactions with two movement techniques, so that magic in this world is a full body experience. Instead of a flick of wand and saying a Latin word, magic in this larp involves improvising body movement under specific constraints. The two techniques are simple to learn and the ‘rules’ of how to move make it easy to use and improvise spells. The workshop will be about 2 hours.

This game uses music to inspire the story and there will be a soundtrack for each scene and act of the game. Movement is the most important way to communicate in this larp. Characters can talk to one another but they cannot resolve their conflict by speech alone. Play will be about 2 hours.

You might like this larp if:

  • You want to play with temptation, power, and revenge.
  • You like having unique, unusual experiences that you can tell your friends about later.
  • You have personal interest in fairy tales, rituals, mind control, or the power of music.
  • You are interested in the games White Death, Ribbon Drive, Sarabande, My Jam, Before and After Silence.
  • You enjoy other activities that have “rules” for improvised movement such as contact improv, interplay, or blues dancing.
  • You are a fan of Ars Magica, the setting for this larp.

Where

Gandhi Mahal restaurant

3009 27th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406

Paid street parking nearby, or free if you’re willing to walk a couple of blocks.

Metro Transit Blue Line, 7, & 21 stops nearby.

Tickets

Get a ticket by filling out the Glamourous Night registration form. Unlike some of our other events, these tickets are first come first served. Once you have a ticket you don’t need to do anything else besides show up to play!

On the day of the event we request a pay-what-you-want goodwill cash donation ($5-$10 suggested) to pay for our use of the space. No one will be turned away if they do not make a donation. Continue reading “Salon du Larp House: Glamourous Night – second playtest!”

Larp House Presents: A Crow Funeral (PBS edition)

two crows on marble steps

TPT Twin Cities PBS logo

This special run of the game is a exhibition game that will be filmed by Twin Cities PBS as part of a segment they are doing on Larp House. All participants must consent to being filmed and interviewed.

A fellow crow has died and we will gather to mourn their passing, but more importantly to understand why they died. Not in a metaphysical way, but in a practical way – what killed this creature and how can we ensure it won’t kill us as well? We are crows and this is the crow way.

What

A Crow Funeral, a live-action game about arguments, empathy, and corvids for 2 or more players

Designed by Tim Hutchings
Organized by Katherine Shane and Tom Fendt

When

1 October 2019, from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm (including interviews)

Where

A private residence in Richfield, Minnesota. Details will be provided to participants.

Registration

If you are interested in playing, please fill out our A Crow Funeral registration form ASAP.  We’ll let you know if you are in the larp as soon as we can.

We probably only need a few players for this. Continue reading “Larp House Presents: A Crow Funeral (PBS edition)”

Documentation for Be-Con 2019

Woman in surgical mask and black rubber gloves sits to back of another woman with a man facing camera in background

A weekend-long larp convention in the Chicago area

Rosemont, Illinois
13-15 September 2019

Glamourous Night
Designed by Jon Cole
Organized by Jon Cole and Cat Stuntebeck
16 players

Pop!
Designed by Alex Roberts
Organized by Jon Cole
11 players

Intense love letter on hotel stationery
ephemera from Will That Be All?

Will That Be All?
Designed by Graham Walmsley
Organized by Larry Lade
8 players + facilitator

All Options
Designed and organized by Jon Cole
3 players

Slayer Cake
coming tomorrow!

 

Larp House Presents: Eye in the Sky

MQ-Q Reaper unmanned aircraft in flight over desert

A British-led intelligence operation close to the border of Pakistan is using an American drone for overwatch. Players are military, legal and political decision makers for either the British or American team. The optional 7th player is an unexpected observer from the Pakistan embassy. How will they all cope when the mission changes and their rules of engagement are no longer clear?

The premise

The larp is an exploration of the morality and effectiveness of using drones as a weapon of war. Different characters will have different ethical concerns about when and how to use drone weapons, and those will be tested as events unfold.

The leaders of a joint British-American intelligence operation are sitting in a room in a secure location in England, remotely directing the operation by issuing orders to British agents on the ground, local military units, or the American drone on overwatch.

Eye in the Sky will premiere at The Smoke 2020. This North American sneak preview is only at Larp House!

A larp for 6-7 players, 4 hours long (including debrief)
Designed by Malcolm Campbell
Organized by Malcolm Campbell, Josh Krehbiel, and Jon Cole

When & where

7 pm to 11 pm, Friday October 4th 2019
Hosted in private home near 78th and Dell Rd in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Exact address will be shared with ticket-holders.)

Plentiful free parking on site. We’ll be organizing a ride share to help get people out there.

Sign-up

Get a ticket by filling out the Eye in the Sky registration form. Unlike some of our other events, these free tickets are first-come first-served. Once you have a ticket you don’t need to do anything else besides show up to play! Continue reading “Larp House Presents: Eye in the Sky”

Documentation for Boundary Waters

two people in lifevests carrying a long tube

Documentation for Boundary Waters, a live-action game about shared journeys, burdens, and friendship

This run was played outdoors on a lovely day in a city park, with riparian forest and the Mississippi River standing in for the forests and lakes of northern Minnesota.

Designed by Katherine Shane
Organized by Tom Fendt

24 August 2019
St. Paul, Minnesota
Six players + a facilitator